Trust In the Lies
by sadisticscribbles
Summary: Their... arrangement... has been going for several nights now. Briggs is started to get worried. Rated M for language and some slightly suggestive dialogue.


**A/N: So yes, Graceland. I saw the pilot, saw the subtext, and ran with it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Graceland, Paul Briggs, or Mike Warren. This is probably a good thing. **

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He was still awake. Too many years in the FBI had told him that. His breath hadn't slowed quite enough.

Chocolate-colored hair was soft on the skin of his shoulder.

They'd gotten drunk one night. That was how it had started. Mumbling slurred words into a mouth that tasted like one cocktail too many. The next morning, he'd realized Mike had gone back to his own bed before he'd woken up. And then Briggs had had to give him back his jacket, which he'd forgotten- an eye-wateringly awkward experience he hoped never to repeat.

And then that night, Mike had shown up at his door again, blushing furiously, stumbling through his explanation. It just felt right...

So it happened again. And again. And again.

Paul Briggs watched the boy beside him for a long moment. He didn't know where Mike came from- leaving your old life behind was sort of the _point_ at Graceland- but wherever it was, they certainly knew how to make their men. Even when he had that fucking ridiculous smile on his face that made him look like a total idiot. Of course, he was completely green, but he'd figure it out.

They always did.

Mike glanced up, unashamedly pulling the other man closer for a lazy kiss. They'd gone surfing earlier in the day, and traces of sea salt remained on their lips. Or maybe it was simply their own sweat.

"You're really starting to amaze me, kid." Briggs murmured. Mike pulled away, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I mean, you're a rookie- you just _graduated_ for Christ's sakes- you've got your whole career ahead of you..."

Mike leaned back, an odd look in his eyes.

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm just trying to figure out why a bright young thing like you goes for a guy like _me._" Briggs ran a coffee-colored hand over Mike's arm.

"That's what this is about? Okay..." He bit his lip. "How about... I'm an idealist that needs an anchor?"

"You _are_ an idealist." Paul conceded. "A fucking crazy one at that."

"Yeah. And maybe I need a realist that can tie me down."

Briggs fingered the other man's wrists- red and angry from where his belt had dug into flesh.

"Think I've done that already." He murmured, with a sly grin. There was a moment of silence, and then Mike covered his face with his hands, moving to the other side of the bed.

"Oh my god... that came out wrong... don't- don't even look at me..."

"No, you're cute when you mess up like that..."

The older man grinned, poking him in the side. He was rewarded a yelp, hands batting his own away.

"No way, you're ticklish?"

"Don't you dare...!" Mike dissolved into a heap of giggles, arms flailing towards the other man, who attacked him mercilessly. They were finally silenced with a rap on the wall and muffled cry of-

"Will you two keep it down?!"

"Sorry, DJ!"

Briggs stared at the other man.

"No you're not, you little liar..."

Mike grinned, laying back against the pillows.

"I'm at Graceland. What do you expect?"

The other man's smile faltered a little. He pulled Mike closer, arms encircling his body as the rookie pressed a kiss to his collar-bone.

"So..." Briggs murmured. "How do I know this isn't some elaborate scheme concocted by the FBI to keep an eye on me?"

Mike nestled even closer to him, swallowing.

"Why would they do that?"

"Because I need watching."

"You're getting paranoid." Mike grinned.

"Hey, in our line of work? Practically a job requirement."

Mike didn't reply, leaning his head on his mentor's bare chest. Briggs closed his eyes, the reassuring weight lulling him to sleep, with the tang of Mike's shampoo and the ocean in his nostrils...

He jerked himself awake suddenly.

"Mike?"

"Hmm?" The replying drawl was long and languid.

"I've asked you this before, and I'm going to ask you again, 'cause the situation's changed somewhat." _A lot. _Briggs thought. _The situation's changed irrevocably. _"Do you trust me?"

Mike hesitated before answering.

"No, sir."

"Not even now, when we're both naked in each other's arms?"

"No, sir."

Briggs watched him for a moment, then nodded.

"Good. In this job, once you start trusting someone, it's all over."

The other man nodded, rolling over.

Neither cared to mention that warm illusion they'd created with their bodies- just by clinging to each other- where nothing existed but them, where there was no backstabbing, no crimes, no necessary deaths-

Because that came dangerously close to trust, and then that would mean the end for both of them.

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